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Bob Dylan could face legal action from The Council of Croats over comments he made to Rolling Stone last year.

Bob Dylan has a history of speaking his mind. One of rock's most iconic voices, the songwriter has frequently spoken out on unfashionable or controversial topics.

Yet this time he may have strayed too far. Speaking to Rolling Stone last year, Bob Dylan made a series of remarks which have caused legal action by a Croat organisation in France.

First up: those comments in full.

"Mmm, I don't know how to put it. It's like . . . the United States burned and destroyed itself for the sake of slavery. The USA wouldn't give it up. It had to be grinded out. The whole system had to be ripped out with force. A lot of killing. What, like, 500,000 people? A lot of destruction to end slavery. And that's what it really was all about."

"This country is just too fucked up about color. It's a distraction. People at each other's throats just because they are of a different color. It's the height of insanity, and it will hold any nation back – or any neighborhood back. Or any anything back. Blacks know that some whites didn't want to give up slavery – that if they had their way, they would still be under the yoke, and they can't pretend they don't know that. If you got a slave master or Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood."

As Business Insider report (via Pitchfork), strict free speech laws on the continent could be brought into play. The Council Of Croats have begun legal proceedings against the singer, which have been accepted.

"It is an incitement to hatred" said the organisation's Vlatko Marić on the comments. "You cannot compare Croatian criminals to all Croats. But we have nothing against Rolling Stone magazine or Bob Dylan as a singer."

The case is ongoing.

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The new issue of Clash magazine is out right now. It's always on the money with breakthrough acts worth listening to. So, go and see.